Gold tumbled to a two-week low on Friday as diminishing liquidity concerns prompted a bout of selling, but lingering concern about financial stability and strong physical buying interest from Asia later helped it to recover.
South Africa's main mine workers union said on Friday separate wage talks with Exxaro Resources and Impala Platinum , the world's second-largest platinum producer, had deadlocked but strike action was not imminent.
At a time when the tech world is eagerly awaiting the launch of Apple's next generation iPhone aka iPhone 5, French iPhone carrier service Orange's CEO Stephane Richard has made a shocking statement, saying that highly anticipated smartphone will be available in France on Oct. 15.
World shares rose half a percent to one-week highs on Friday while the euro clung to gains from the previous session on hopes that European policymakers would finally come up with a bold plan to combat a deepening debt crisis.
Gold slipped more than 1 percent on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly drop since March 2009, as stock markets gained and the euro rose after major central banks around the world strived to fight the debt crisis in Europe.
Gold and silver prices moved higher late Thursday after posting big losses in the New York futures market.
South African energy minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday she had signed off on a proposal for new nuclear power plants, likely worth tens of billions of dollars, and said it would be presented to cabinet soon.
Gold and silver fell hard Thursday after five major central banks announced a coordinated plan to inject U.S. dollars into European banks straining under the load of the continent's sovereign debt crisis.
Zimbabwe again hinted it might show flexibility in its stance towards foreign mining companies, with a government official saying a law forcing them to surrender 51 percent stakes to local people was an aspiration, not a hard target.
Gold could rally through $2,000 an ounce by year's end, according to a Thomson Reuters GFMS report released Thursday.
Canada's B2Gold Corp said high-grade gold zone at Jabali in its La Libertad property has increased and it has started environmental studies and metallurgical test work.
Gold prices fell Thursday around the world as investor fears of a Euro zone collapse gave way to hope that coordinated intervention by global monetary authorities could contain and even cure the continent's sovereign debt crisis.
Gold prices slipped below $1,800 an ounce on Thursday as stock markets extended gains, with assurances from Germany and France about keeping Greece in the euro bloc boosting appetite for assets seen as higher risk at the precious metal's expense.
Alamos Gold raised its half yearly dividend by 40 percent, the third increase since its first payout in 2010 amid skyrocketing gold prices.
Australian miner Metals Exploration's subsidiary FCF Minerals said on Thursday its $150 million Runruno gold and molybdenum project in the Philippines may start production in the second half of 2012.
A portion of Coeur d'Alene's Kensington gold mine in Alaska has been shut in the aftermath of a fatal underground accident last week, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration said.
Production and shipments ground to a halt at Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia after thousands of workers began a month-long strike on Thursday, stoking fears of a global shortage following similar action at a major Peruvian mine.
Shareholders of the $5.9 billion Tampakan gold and copper mine in the southern Philippines remain committed to undertaking the project despite strong local opposition, an official of Sagittarius Mines Inc. said on Thursday.
Asian stocks bounced on Thursday after tentative steps by euro zone policymakers to tackle a crippling debt crisis, but investors remained wary that obstacles the bloc's leaders face could weigh on the euro and Asian currencies in the medium term.
The future of the James Webb Space Telescope project was almost in peril until Wednesday when the U.S. Senate proposed to revive the $6.5 billion instrument.
George Strait had the week's best SoundScan bow, but in the end the country superstar was still just playing straight man to the comical indomitability of rapper Lil Wayne.
Brazil's proposal to support the crisis-hit euro zone garnered only lukewarm support from fellow BRICS countries on Wednesday, as doubts mounted whether the five emerging market powers have the political will or financial clout to throw a lifeline to Europe.
